Rural self-rule

Many villages in Telangana are enforcing their own lockdowns

30-Akhila-Yadav Village vigilante: Akhila Yadav, sarpanch of Madanapuram, stands guard at her village entrance.

THESE DAYS, there is no way one can travel through rural Telangana without encountering hostile inquiries, blockades and vigilantes. The sheer impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the state has led to the creation of thousands of bordered territories within it. In the aftermath of the lockdown, many villagers are following a shift system to guard the entrances to their villages, in order to prevent the entry of “foreigners”.

Initially, police officers encouraged the village elders to handle the situation. They did this knowing well that with limited manpower they cannot physically enforce lockdown in every village. —P. Krishna Reddy, a farmer from Ranga Reddy district

Madanapuram in Nalgonda district, a village of just 1,500 people, is headed by the youngest sarpanch of the state, 23-year-old Akhila Yadav. With a scarf over her nose and mouth, and a stick in hand, Akhila stands guard at the village entrance.

Almost every day of lockdown has been hectic for her. No vehicle or people are allowed to enter the village without her permission. “People from surrounding villages come here to drink toddy,” she says. “I want to stop them. Since it is lockdown time, I felt that we should do our part to help the police.”

Akhila’s shift is during daytime; her father and other elders guard the entry points at night. She says that some visitors had argued with her for stopping them. “But the moment they realise that I am the sarpanch, they listen,” she says.

For a few days, Akhila went easy on the outsiders, as the government insisted that the movement of essential services should not be obstructed. She removed the barricades and opened the road, but then found that toddy-drinkers were still frequenting village.

“We tried engaging with the people in a polite way, but did not succeed. So we stopped their vehicles, deflated their tyres and broke the toddy bottles,” she says.

Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district takes pride in being Covid-19-free. It has not had a single positive case so far. People here sprang into action as soon as news broke out that a number of people who had attended the Tabhligi Jamaat meetings in Delhi had tested positive in Telangana. Even as the state government was searching for the attendees and their contacts, a group of elders in a village here told a Muslim resident that they had information that one of his family members had travelled to Delhi. They told him to send the relative to quarantine and warned him of social boycott if he did not do so. Next day, the Delhi returnee presented himself before state officials, along with five others who had either travelled to Delhi or had been in contact with those who returned from Delhi.

Some villages in the district have been extra cautious. In Saidapur, for instance, all those who had returned from a 14-day quarantine were made to be in home quarantine for one more week.

“The village elders formed a WhatsApp group for the people in home quarantine,” says P. Kiran, a villager. “They were told to message in the group in case they need any essentials. The items were door-delivered by the villagers.”

The village of Gosaipally in Sangareddy district, too, passed a lockdown resolution, and the person most affected by it was the sarpanch, N. Saya Goud. His mother had gone to meet a relative in the neighbouring village. “We got to know that three people from that village had been quarantined,” says Goud. “My mother wanted to get back home. Since we put up check-posts at the [village] entrance, she was stopped there. I got a call from local volunteers asking me if I should let her in. I refused, and told her to return to the relative’s house.”

It has been more than a month now, and his mother is still not home. “I cannot have one rule for my family members and another rule for villagers,” he says. The village passed another resolution, too, after the announcement of lockdown—whoever wants to enter the village for any work has to get a health certificate from a nearby hospital.

In Ranga Reddy district, which is partly in the Greater Hyderabad region, some villages put up fences on the boundaries, and when these failed to stop vehicles, the people dug up approach roads. They check even ambulances to prevent people being smuggled in.

Similar scenes can be witnessed across the district, but there are many critics who feel that the villagers are overzealous. “Initially, police officers encouraged the village elders to handle the situation,” says P. Krishna Reddy, a farmer from the district. “They did this knowing well that with limited manpower they cannot physically enforce lockdown in every village. As villagers started putting up barricades, there was no resistance from the police. This led to more village elders and sarpanches seizing power and controlling the local affairs.”

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